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A Moroccan Fantasy in Israel

I have been talking for the last several years about driving up to the north for the day and going to the Moroccan Fantasy (פנטזיה מרוקאית) store in Hatzor Haglilit to find a tagine. I have always joked that I must of have been Moroccan in a past life because I love Moroccan architecture and design, food and music.

Finally, Mr BT and I went there a few Fridays ago and when we first drove through the industrial zone and entered the parking area of the store, the front of the store didn’t look like anything special.

But then we looked to our right and gasped in delight at the sea of tagines,

tiled tables and sinks,

and beautiful planters.

The moment I walked in the store, I knew I was home. It fulfilled all our expectations and more.

The first place I gravitated to was the back of the store where they had beautiful hand-painted

hand-hammered,

and my personal favorite, hand-carved doors which I could picture as the entrance to our master bedroom.

The other thing that caught my eye were the beautiful light fixtures.

But after coming back down to earth, I focused on the real reason I came to the store, which was to buy a tagine that I could cook with. They have beautiful decorative tagines for serving, but you cannot use them for cooking.

When buying a tagine for cooking or serving, make sure they have a label on them that says “sans plomb”, which means “without lead”. And of course, always make sure you buy from a reputable dealer.

If you want to cook with a tagine in the traditional way, you can buy a stand for it and cook using wood or charcoal. I decided to forgo this for now, but will buy one in the future.

I came home with a rustic tagine perfect for making one of Paula Wolfert’s lovely recipes. But, I will be going back to buy doors, tiles, lamps….. Mr. BT’s bank manager had better watch out!

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Baroness Tapuzina

Michelle Nordell (aka Baroness Tapuzina) was a foodie from the womb growing up in the House of Weird Vegetables, so named by a family friend because all of the unusual and exotic food cooked and eaten there. She loves to change recipes using herbs from her garden and spices from the spice shops she enjoys visiting.
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I want that sink! When I lived in Givat Ze’ev the apartment had a fitted kitchen from the previous owners in a design I used to call Nightmare in Marrakesh. It was dark and not very tasteful, but I didn’t have the budget to change it, and at least there was tons of counter space and lots of cabinets. If I ever do get to design my dream kitchen I want some of those tiles, gorgeous!!!

I’ve found your website while googling for somewhere in Israel to buy a good tagine in Israel, and I’ve found this… this… this… wow. I’m a spanish moroccan jew and I didn’t know that place existed. So, thank you! And wow again.